Mountainair & Abo Canyon

On March 21, L joined me for a trip from Ruidoso to Albuquerque to see the RailRunner commuter trains. On our way to and from Albuquerque, we stopped in the Abo Canyon area to take some pics. I've been going to Abo Canyon for 20 years; it's still a great show.

Our first stop was the depot at Mountainair...

Mountainair, NM. March 21, 2008

Next we stopped at Scholle, the east end of the 5-mile single track portion of the BNSF Clovis Sub through Abo Canyon. US Hwy 60 passes over the tracks here. We saw six eastbounds in two hours, and a few westbounds as well. Even L, who is not exactly tuned in to the intricacies of railroad operations, remarked on how busy it was.

One of six eastbounds in two hours climbs upgrade through the canyon.

An eastbound climbs past the rock slide fences approaching Scholle.

I'll skip the Albuquerque photos for now and post them in a couple of separate entries. Back to Abo Canyon for a few evening photos...


Early that evening, a westbound coasted downgrade in beautiful light at Sais.

Signals at Sais, NM

A BN caboose trails an eastbound rail train .

Sunset at Sais on March 21, 2008.

"Save Abo Canyon." A landowner has erected signs in protest of BNSF's plans to construct a second track through the canyon.

Coming next: Albuquerque!

WSC

np: the Ministry - "Jesus built my hotrod"

return to Hurley

On March 19, I visited the copper mining region (what's left of it) near Hurley in southwestern New Mexico. I hadn't been to Hurley in five or six years, so it was interesting to go back. With the downscaling of the region's copper mining operations, the town and its railroad (the Southwestern) have really fallen on hard times.

The town's landmark smokestacks no longer loom over the copper smelter... they were demolished in 2007.

empty tracks and idle locomotives at Hurley, NM

Southwestern 2164 - Hurley NM. March 19, 2008

long hood of Santa Fe GP-7 # 2211 at Hurley.

The main attraction at Hurley, since the Southwestern started up in the early 1990s, is the SW's fleet of former Phelps-Dodge GP30s, which still occasionally operate. These were the only GP30s built for an industrial customer rather than a line-haul railroad.

GP30 #30 appears to have been out of service for a while...

... but the 28 still operates.

GP30 # 25 still wears its Phelps-Dodge paint scheme.

Symbolic of the line's hard luck: station sign at Whitewater.

In 2001, Southwestern acquired the BNSF Deming Subdivision (Rincon to Deming) which allowed SWRR to diversify its traffic base and gain some overhead traffic between BNSF at Rincon and the UP at Deming. Now their fortunes are no longer subject exclusively to the production fluctuations of the copper industry. If the Southwestern's operations in this part of New Mexico have any sort of future, this is where it will be...

The only train I saw moving on the SWRR on March 19: a westbound, powered by a pair of GP40s with 18 cars in tow, passes the siding of Mirage a few miles northeast of Deming.

We're not through yet... I've got plenty more from New Mexico and El Paso to share in the days ahead. Stay tuned...

WSC

np: the Greencards - "Far side of the hill"